As Christmas approached, the shops in the mall began making preparations.
Some hung up colorful lights, some put up Santa Claus stickers, while others placed carefully crafted Christmas trees at their entrances, laden with little gifts.
But the next moment, the neatly arranged Christmas tree suddenly began to shake, and the little gifts flew off the branches toward the front.
A khaki van sped past the mall's escalator. Zhang Heng turned on the wipers, sweeping away the two greeting cards stuck to the windshield. The L300's rear swung past a counter filled with expensive skincare products, and the airflow it kicked up made the red serum bottles teeter precariously.
The driver of the Toyota Voxy was crafty. He kept turning at intersections, making a huge loop in an attempt to secretly slip back onto the road he had come from. But the next moment, the glass doors of the mall on his right suddenly shattered without warning.
A khaki van draped in Christmas decorations burst out from inside.
What the hell?! Was Santa coming this early this year? And instead of riding reindeer, he was driving a car?
The Voxy driver turned pale with fright. He had been watching the rearview mirror the entire time and had seen no one following him. He had no idea where this guy had come from, and that entrance had been far too dramatic.
The distance between the two vehicles rapidly shrank to only six or seven meters. The Voxy driver's scalp tingled, and he had no choice but to floor the accelerator, hoping to use his speed to shake off the tail behind him.
But then something happened that left him dumbfounded. Despite the Voxy's performance, it actually lost to that beat-up-looking L300 in acceleration.
Both men had floored their accelerators, yet the distance between them only kept closing. Zhang Heng rammed the Voxy's left rear with his front bumper. Under the force, the Toyota began to tilt out of control. The driver was sweating profusely as he gripped the steering wheel tightly, but no matter how hard he accelerated, he could not break free.
On the verge of rolling over, the Voxy had no choice but to slow down. As if they had agreed beforehand, the L300 behind it slowed as well. Zhang Heng could have overturned the other vehicle, but with Ameko inside, he did not press too hard. In the end, both cars stopped by the roadside.
The driver in the Voxy knew perfectly well that neither his skills nor his car's performance could shake Zhang Heng off. So he opened the door and shoved the unconscious Ameko out onto the roadside. Zhang Heng watched the dark blue Toyota vanish into the night, then lowered the bow in his hand.
He did not continue the pursuit. For one thing, he could not leave Ameko by the roadside. For another, those people had guns. Though they had shown restraint so far and had not fired, there was no telling what they might do if pushed too far.
Thus, this confrontation ended with both sides taking a step back.
In a sense, the appearance of that group actually made Zhang Heng feel relieved. When he saw the fire at the seafood shop, his first thought had been much the same as Ameko's: that Takeda Tetsuya had already been killed, and they had used the fire to destroy the evidence. But the appearance of the Voxy indirectly proved that the seafood shop owner was still alive.
Otherwise, there would have been no need for them to lure Ameko here and kidnap her. The girl lived an ordinary life, no different from most Japanese students. The only reason they would target her was to use her to threaten Takeda Tetsuya.
But then again, who exactly were the people in that Voxy? They had caused trouble, committed arson, and carried firearms. In Japan, where gun control was incredibly strict, anyone who could get their hands on pistols was probably no small player.
Zhang Heng had shot through the calf of one of the tattooed men earlier because he had wanted to keep him behind for questioning. Unfortunately, he had not expected them to have accomplices waiting to help them escape. Still, at least Ameko had not been lost.
Zhang Heng carried the girl into the car and gave her a quick examination. Other than minor scrapes on her elbow and calf, she had no other injuries. That made him breathe a sigh of relief.
Just then, he heard the sirens of fire engines in the distance. To be fair, the firefighters had arrived quite quickly. Everything that had happened earlier was dangerous, but only a few minutes had passed since he called the police.
Zhang Heng took off his coat and covered the girl with it. Ameko had invited him to her rented apartment for hot pot several times, so he knew where she lived. But taking her home now was not a good idea. She had clearly become entangled in something. Since those people could trick her out once, they could naturally trick her out a second time.
The most urgent matter was to figure out what had happened before deciding on the next move.
Though the people in the Voxy had escaped, Zhang Heng knew there was still someone who could definitely give him answers.
Everything that had happened tonight was clearly connected to Takeda Tetsuya—or rather, Tsuchiya Yosuke. It was time to hear this man's story.
But before that, he first had to find the man himself.
That was not difficult for Zhang Heng. He drove around to the izakaya, brothel, and karaoke bar the seafood shop owner frequented most, but ultimately found his target at the abandoned pier where people practiced driving.
By then, the sky was already beginning to brighten. The seafood shop owner wore a wide-brimmed hat that obscured his face and held a fishing rod as he blended in among a group of elderly fishing enthusiasts.
The moment he heard tires scraping against the ground, he knew who had come. But when he stood up and saw Ameko in the passenger seat, he froze.
"How did she get here?"
"You should be asking yourself that." Zhang Heng jumped out of the car. "I found her in front of your seafood shop. A group of people were trying to kidnap her then, but don't worry. She only passed out. She's not seriously hurt."
"Someone kidnapped her? What did they look like?" Takeda Tetsuya's expression tightened with rare nervousness.
"There were probably three of them. They were wrapped up pretty tightly, wearing sunglasses and masks. But for some reason, they didn't cover the tattoos on their necks."
"What did the tattoos look like?" Takeda Tetsuya did not care about any of the other details, focusing solely on this question.
Zhang Heng thought for a moment. "They were too far away, so I can't be completely sure. But they looked like an eye."
Takeda Tetsuya's pupils suddenly contracted. Then, as though all strength had left him, he collapsed onto the ground and muttered, "So they've come after all?"
"What has come?"
"This has nothing to do with you. They only want my life." The seafood shop owner gave a miserable smile. "I thought that if I hid my name and kept as low a profile as possible all these years, I could avoid them. I never expected they still wouldn't let me go. But it's fine. As long as I go to them obediently now, you won't be in any danger anymore."
Unlike what Zhang Heng had imagined, the seafood shop owner seemed to have no interest in discussing his past.
Zhang Heng was still considering how to get him to talk when a voice came from behind him first. "So this was why you divorced Mom back then?"
At some point, Ameko had awakened in the car seat. She had clearly heard what Takeda Tetsuya had said earlier.
Sorry, I just got to the station. There'll only be one chapter today. (?ω?) Happy National Day, everyone.
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